New Ulm weekly review., 1887-10-05
'PIKR StCsAlEoLD.

i 7 -
The story of a, asaans vlln, is repriev-
ed while standing: on the. saafold with
the moose about his neckmnst always
lthrili. The fact Oh any enc standing
II the Iaresenee oG;death, has strange
fascination aboat it, and his fellow
men Are anxioG6s to, know what his
thoughts and faaGngs were as he ex-
pecteessto: be ushered i1aho eternity. It
mas bsen my III luck ta look squarely
INTO she eyes ~od1grims death on several
occasions and my good luck so pre-
serve nay life against the fate which
seeraed to hunger for it, and some OF
the Incidents may prove
interesting to- the general
reader. During the siege OF
Yorktown by Nice Cssllan was detailed
from my: :cempany to do scout work.
while my reputation, no doubt, went
tosthe commands. himself, I reported
directly 10, a division commander,
whom Z never met without being,
forced tosnote the fact that he wass
the worst for liquor Later on in tha.
war there, was 8 chief of scouts, but at,
| this time there were a half-dozen Of US:
/ taking orders direct from this general
and reporting back to him in person,
On my third trip was very neatly
! captured by the rebels, and in,the.
squeeze, got all my papers, including,
| the pass which gave me entran "a and
exit to the Federal lines. Therefore,
when finally reached the E4dara.l
packet post had nothing by which, to
| identify myself. The officer, in, com.
mand OF the reserve picket
post was a smart aleak, who
thought to add to his Importance
by refusing to believe my STORY and
sending me to the Headquarters OF
the brigade. There I was regarded as
a veritable rebel spy, ard! the. general
| in command was extrenaaly pampons
In his demeanor toward me. can
remember the conversation as vivldly
as ii it took place yesterday. BY the
time reached his tent ray arms had
been tied behind me and I was looked
upon as a very dangerous fellow.
so you are tho -=- spy captured
down there at she pickett" shouted
the general, as ! stood before him.
"l'm no spy. sir" replied.
"Oh, no, OF course not, but don't
you talk back to me, you Internal
traitor. Who sent you spying into
our campP'
"Im Union soldier, sir, and be-
,, long too --."
"shut up, you scoundrel! Don't
think that you cen stand mere and lie
to me! What rebel command do you
belong to?''
''None, sir. / am Union scout, and
was Detained
Stop he shouted, while his face
grew crimson. while the truth NAV
not help you, hate to see you stand
in the presence of death with a lie on
yourlips. Guard, remove him."
was taken away and confined in a
gua1d-house. but not for long. In
about an hour I was taken to anoth.
er tent in the same encampment, and
entered it to find four or five officers
present. 1t was to be a drum-head
court-martial.
AS afterward learned a report of
my capture had been sent to head
quarters, and Mcclellan had replied:
CRY him at drum-head court-mar-
tial, and, if found guilty, hang him at
sunrise
A drum. head court.martial is dig
nitied farce. It is convened to con.
svict. The idea is that the victim is
guilty, but must be disposed OF &C
cordlng to the regulations of the war
department.. The fact that openly
and boldly approached the Union
picket, and that l was coming from
the rebel lines, carried no weight in
my favor. The officer OF the picket
said that / was certainly spy, and
that settled it. When they finally
condescended to hear my explanation
! gave my name and stated that the
general to whom llnade my reports
would identity ilie. lstood in neither
awe nor fear, knowing how easily ] !!
could be identified. Some 81 the
members OF the court opposed to CIV
ing me this chance for nv life. but 1t
was finally decided to dispatch an or
derly and adjourn the court for an
hour. was conducted back to the
guardhouse to wait and when again
taken before the officers expected to
be discharged without delay. You
can, therefore, imagine my feelings
when was informed that General
utterly repudlated me. Ny regiment
and company were a dozen miles
away, and felt that it would be use
less 20 ask further delay. In ten
minutes mint | was found guilty and SEN
fenced to execution at sunrise, and
before midnight scaffold had been
prepared. Why had General
denied my identity? The only
excuse could offer for them
was that he was drunk when the mes
senger reached him. This proved to
be the case. Rousad from his stupid
sleep he had winked and blinked at
the ne! communication NJ and made out
portion OF it, and then flung it down
with the assertion that he knew no
one OF my name. The. gallows were
erected near where I was confined.